@article{10272/25544,
year = {2025},
month = {5},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25544},
abstract = {During the excavations undertaken in 2018 at the Nueva Biblioteca sector of the
Valencina Copper Age mega-site, in south-west Spain, an exceptional sperm-whale
tooth was found inside a non-burial pit. This remarkable object is the first of its kind
ever found for Late Prehistoric Iberia. Due to its rarity and importance, a multidisciplinary
study was carried out, including photogrammetric 3D modelling, as well as
taphonomic, paleontological, technological and contextual analysis. This led to a full
characterisation of the artefact through the analysis of its bioerosion traces, anthropogenic
marks, depositional context and socio-cultural background. The ensuing
discussion covers the history and processes the tooth went through from the death of
the animal and disposal on the seabed, through the disarticulation of the tooth to its
collection in a coastal environment and its subsequent use and deposition in the pit},
organization = {We would like to thank Juan Carlos Castro Jiménez for his kind restoration work on the tooth. We would also like to thank the Museum and Council of Valencina de la Concepción and the Research Group RNM-293 of the University of Huelva. We would like to thank as well Manolo Toscano, Teodosio Donaire and Cristóbal for their help doing the tests that were carried out in the electron microscopy lab of the University of Huelva},
publisher = {Public Library of Science},
title = {From the jaws of the “Leviathan”: A sperm whale tooth from the Valencina Copper Age Megasite},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0323773},
author = {Ramírez Cruzado, Samuel and Cáceres Puro, Luis Miguel and Toscano Grande, Antonio and García Sanjuan, Leonardo},
}